


Livefeed of Elemental Nations

by KyaFalcone



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alive Uchiha Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Ino is sorry, Konoha is a server, Kyuubi is the clan name, Lee is into Shakespeare, Mild Language, Online Friendship, Sakura's gaming personality is Inner Sakura, Their friendships are kinda messed up, Video & Computer Games, What Have I Done, because gamers, friends in game, not in reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6267502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyaFalcone/pseuds/KyaFalcone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the modern world, the Elemental Nations is a large scale mmorpg which lets players become shinobi and make friends with people they never would have otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. TreeofLife

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I'm reading Naruto Gamer fics. An idea of gamers talking smack and bullshitting each other comes out. Not sure where this is going. But it'll probably be based around my own experience talking with other players.

_TreeofLife has logged in_

"Fuck, finally Life! We almost started without you."

"Sorry, Pet. Real life got in the way."  _TreeofLife (_ _Life)_

"God I hate my nick."  _PetalPower (Pet)_

"Shut up you two. Let's get this over with."

"Oo, lookit Pet, someone's got a date~"  _Life_

"Please, Crim wouldn't know what to do with a girl."

"Shut up, Kit."  _CrimsonLies (Crim)_

"Nice come back."  _f_ _lamekitsune (Kit)_

"Hold up, roll call! Life."  _Life_

"Pet."

"Kit."

"Crim."

"Beach."  _Idratherbeatthebeach (Beach)_

"Laze."  _lazy4win  (Laze)_

"Hey, where's TD and Eyes?"  _Pet_

"TD pmed me a bit ago. I haven't read it."  _Kit_

"Go read it real fast, idiot."  _Crim_

"Shut up, bastard!"  _Kit_

"Just go read the pm, Kit."  _Pet_

"Yeah. I'm goin'." _Kit_

"What about Eyes?"  _Life_

"Laze, can you check on her?"  _Pet_

"Tch, fine."  _Laze_

* * *

 

Sakura muted her mic for a moment so she could laugh.  It was common among their group for a fight to break out.  It was such a large "clan" that there were plenty of people to get to know.  The pink haired teen grinned as she thought back to her first time playing _Elemental Nations_.  Her cousin had bought it for her as a birthday present.  And it ended up giving her a lot more friends she could talk to.

The first ones she had met were Kit and Crim.  The three of them had kept bumping into each other and helping with missions.  One time Kit had asked if they would help him with a mission that needed three players.  Next thing Sakura knew, they were playing with each other, meeting new people, and having a blast.  Those online weren't even half of their "clan".  They actually had one of the most successful clans in the game.  And they were the longest lasting clan of  _Elemental Nations_.  Most clans lost members (sometimes all members) over time or had here-and-there members, but _Kyuubi_ (whose name represented the nine founder (Crim, Kit, Life, GB, Pet, Laze, Eyes, Red, and TD) though they added a bunch of friends through the first few months) didn't have to deal with that problem a lot.  When real life got in the way, another player could usually help out.

The mission they were going on tonight actually only needed a minimum of four people.  The eight people that agreed to do it were more in case something happened.  It was like that a lot.  Most often more players than needed would sign up for a mission.  If a few didn't show up, it never really caused a problem.  _Kyuubi_ had a collection of class types.

Sakura, or rather TreeofLife, was the strongest healer of the clan.  After spending so much time with Kit and Crim, her level just kept going up.  She was one of the strongest healer players in the game because of that.  That and she was a perfectionist who kept watch of all of her team members with an eagle-eye.  Pet often teased her about how "mother-hen" she was.  In the real world, the comment would've been a slight or insult, more often than not.  But Pet usually said something like that when Sakura had saved someone from a ko.

Life, Eyes (EyesseeALL) and Dest (DestinyKnows) were the healers, though all three were good in close combat, Dest being the best of their little group.  Kit, Crim, TD (Dog_on_Top), and GB (Green!Beast) were the front line fighters.  Laze, Beach, Pup (puppetmaster100), Slash (slash-and-dead), and Red (RedRunsFree) were the long distance weapon users.  The clan's "jutsu specialists" included Pet, Tor (Tornado369), Chip (Chipin_yum), and BnB (BlackonBlack).   When a mission was failed due to a healer not being available, Laze, Pet, Red, and BnB learned a few minor healing "jutsus" to help out.

They were by now, almost at the two year clan anniversary, a well oiled machine.  Their clan had been mentioned in quite a few gamers mags and sites.  A lot of people wanted to join too.  By now the group had figured out a way to let in new members, like Beach, Pup, Tor, BnB, and Slash were the additions of the last year.  It was a slow process where they would run a few missions with prospective members to see if the style of fighting they used was cohesive with the rest of the clan.  There had been a few people who had failed that, or just didn't show up to those planned missions, that were a little upset, or sometimes tried to sabotage the clan.  Usually the game monitors caught those people.

There were some members of the group who knew each other outside of the virtual world.  Beach, Tor and Pup were siblings.  Eyes and Dest were cousins.  BnB had known TD before BnB joined the clan, just didn't know they did before BnB had his first mission with TD.  Sakura was pretty sure Red and Crim knew each other, though that wasn't confirmed.  Kit and Beach had met outside the game at a computer cafe, which was how Beach and his sibs got a chance to be in the clan.  Laze and Chip were always texting or emailing each other, though no one was sure if they had met in person yet.  Sakura hadn't yet met any of her online friends.

In the real world, she didn't have friends.  Sakura had acquaintances from school and work.  TreeofLife had a whole group of people she considered friends, some even best friends.  She wasn't sure about most of the others, but she, Kit, and GB, had admitted one late night mission, early in the clan's days, that they didn't have anyone else in the world but the clan.  She wasn't sure, but Sakura thought that one of the others had either seen the conversation or hacked it, because there had been a pretty big change in everybody afterward.

It wasn't obvious.  But Sakura had gotten to know her online friends rather well.  And after that conversation, they had started to trade numbers and emails and such so they could keep in contact outside the game.  She, Pet, and Eyes, the only girls of the group at the time, had made a habit of getting together on Tuesday nights to bitch about this or that.  The guys soon learned that Tuesdays were girl night, which came to include Tor and Slash when they joined the clan.  And Thursdays become guys night.  Saturdays were the clan's busiest day of the week because it was when most everybody had a free hour or two.  Other days were kinda sporadic.

Letting her laughter die, Sakura tuned back into the feed.

* * *

_TreeofLife has turned mic on._

"Eyes is sick."  _Laze_

"What happened?" _Pet_

"She was helping with Dest and caught what he had."  _Laze_

"Aw, that sucks. Didn't he have some stomach bug?"  _Kit_

"Yeah."  _Laze_

"I'm shooting an email to TD. Would one of you girls message Slash?"  _Crim_

"I got it."  _Pet_

"Thanks, Pet, Crim. You guys are kinda awesome."  _Life_

"Only kinda, Life?"  _Pet_

"Hey, bastard isn't awesome most of the time!"  _Kit_

"What'd TD say?"  _Life_

"Oh! His mom wants a family night so he can't make it!"  _Kit_

"That's my ear, idiot."  _Crim_

"Shut up, Teme!"  _Kit_

"Are we going to begin?"  _Beach_

* * *

Most everyone finished the little things before confirming that they were ready.  As the mission had been "elected" by Laze, he was the one to brief everyone on what was going on.  Kit and Crim would lead, because even though they argued a lot, they fought together like they could read the other's mind.  Pet and Life would be the "support" team, meaning they would hang back and cover everyone, or heal in Sakura's case.  Beach, and his really high defense, would be the scout.  TD would've done that if he could make it as his speed was crazy high.  Beach would be the best bet since he doesn't die easy.  Laze would be leading the team, as the one who elected the mission, and keep towards Pet and Life, though he would provide cover fire.

For the next hour, the feed was full of "Kill it!"s, "Shit"s, "Behind you!"s, and "Fuckfuckfuck"s.  Halfway through the mission, Slash had joined the feed, though she didn't get on the game.  It wasn't uncommon for other members to listen in even though they didn't have time to play.  It was actually the way Tor joined Tuesday Night Girl's Night, since she was usually studying for some exam then.  Pup also usually had his line open in the afternoon, just to catch up with whoever was on at the time.  Between heals, Sakura explained what they knew about Dest and Eyes.  Slash let them know that she'd check in on Dest before the end of tomorrow.

There were some "preset" teams in the clan.  Kit, Crim, and Life could do almost any three person mission without a fail.  Eyes, TD, and BnB liked to stick together, and they were a great scouting team.  Dest, Slash, and GB were often on at the same time so they were a team more often than not.  Pet liked to stick to missions with Laze or Chip, as they were best at cover fire.  These teams usually knew more about each other than the group.  Kit and Crim were the only ones that knew Sakura wanted to be a doctor.  Kit and Life knew that Crim hated being compared to his brother (who both figured was Red).  Crim and Life were the only ones who knew Kit lived alone and never knew who his parents were, and that he easily got jealous when others talked about family.

There were even some combinations that were avoided.  No one wanted BnB and Beach on the same team, though no one knew why they didn't like each other.  Tor rarely went out with Laze, something about not being able to handle the male's voice.  Crim didn't like missions where he worked with Red, though Red was fine with it.  Kit and GB were banned from working together after they ended up burning down a whole forest.  Even the mods were still confused by that on.  Usually, Dest and Eyes weren't on at the same time, since there was only one computer with _Elemental Nations_ on it at their house.

It was the little things like that, that made Sakura feel so close to her online friends.  They really felt more like a family than anything.  It was nice after a long day at school where the only ones to talk to you were the teachers.  Sakura and TreeofLife were very different people if she thought about it.  She tried not to though.

* * *

After another long night of gaming, Haruno Sakura was ready to face a day at school.  Being able to be herself with friends was probably the only reason Sakura could handle being alone during the day.  There were quite a few that joined the feed during their lunch breaks.  Usually Eyes, Kit, GB, Beach, Life and occasionally Laze and Chip.  So when lunch rolled around, Sakura made her way to the roof to enjoy her friends' company.

Most everyone had the app for the chat they used.  _Elemental Nations_ hadn't released an app version and most player thought if would be a bad idea.  A few mods the clan knew had told them it most likely wouldn't happen.  While a cool idea, there were too many features that wouldn't transfer over from the computer to phone/tablet.

So, Sakura hooked in her headphones, opened the chat, and began to eat her lunch.  And she wasn't the first person on today.  Though it wasn't one of the usual lunch chatters.

* * *

_TreeofLife has logged in.  
_

"Oh my. . ." 

"Pet? What're you doing on? I thought you hung out with your rl friends during the day?"  _Life_

"Life, I need you to answer a question for me."  _Pet_

"What kinda question?"  _Life_

"Personal. Look, I know you don't give out a whole lot to us, but I really need to find out if I'm right or not."  _Pet_

"Right about what?"  _Life_

_flamekitsune has logged in._

"Hey guys!" _Kit_

"Kit, give me two minutes with Life. Please?"  _Pet_

"Why? What's going on?" _Kit_

"Girl stuff. Please?" _Pet_

"Kit, just pull out your buds. I'll text you when its safe."  _Life_

"Ight. Kit out."

"Pet?" _Life_

"He really just left?" _Pet_

"It's not the first time someone wants a private word. Usually it's Eyes though." _Life_

"Oh. Okay."  _Pet_

"Pet. Your question?"  _Life_

"Right! Um, well, you. . . You wouldn't happen to be on the roof right now would you?"  _Pet_

"What?" _Life_

* * *

"Cause I'm kinda up here too," a _familiar_ voice echoed in her ears.

Since one ear had her headphones occupying it and the other was free, Sakura turned to see _who_ was up here with her.  A blonde haired blue eyed girl Sakura recognized as Yamanaka Ino, the most popular girl in their school.

"Uh, Pet?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Yamanaka responded, echoing in her ear again.

Sakura felt her heart speed up and grabbed for her phone.  She couldn't breathe.  But she knew what would help.  She swiped blindly at her phone until a new voice hit her ears.

"Hey, I thought you said you'd text," the bubbly voice of Kit came through.  Kit and Crim were the only ones with her phone number.  They had exchanged them pre-clan.

"Kit, I," she lost the ability to speak.  No air would get in.

"Shit! Breathe with me, Life."  And he started exaggerating his breathing.  Kit had been privy to quite a few of her panic attacks.  He knew how to help.  Beach did too.  For some reason, Beach's monotone voice could help calm her just as well as Kit's bubbly one.  When she was breathing normally, he quietly asked her what had happened.

"Um, Pet, she's. . . She's here?" she answered, looking back to see worried blue eyes.  The same eyes that had dismissed her so many times.

"In chat or rl?"

"Rl."

"Okay. Give her the phone real fast," Kit commanded.

She did as told.  It was probably the commanding voice he had that helped so much.  She had an idea of who Kit was because of his voice.  She was also pretty sure he knew who she was too.  Though they both made the point of never asking.  Everyone had secrets.  The great thing about _Kyuubi_ was that she could be herself.  Finding out who someone was, kinda messed with your perspective of them.

Like PetalPower.  Or Yamanaka Ino.  Or both?

She _knew_ Pet.  Pet was her friend.  A female who wasn't upset about having to explain makeup, give flirting tips, or fashion ideas.  Pet was safe.  Yamanaka Ino was not.  Yamanaka Ino was a girl who ignored Sakura.  Who laughed when Sakura fell in a puddle or when she messed up her first try at eyeliner or when she asked if she could sit next to one of Yamanaka's friends.  Yamanaka Ino was someone who had _never_ treated Sakura with _any_ of the kindness Pet gave to Life.  They could _not be the same_.


	2. flamekitsune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It didn't want to die.

Naruto would never say it aloud, but his first friend was CrimsonLies.  Not that he'd _ever_ tell Crim that.  Though Life probably figured it out.  TreeofLife was his second friend ever.  She was also someone Naruto was pretty sure the identity of (Haruno Sakura).  Not that figuring out who his online friends were in real life was a big deal.  But Naruto could see how meeting one of her online friends made Life nervous.  She was as shy in person as Eyes was online.  Hell, giving him and Crim her number had caused a panic attack.  It was why they decided to use the chat.

Naruto already knew who most of their clan was, and not all of them were confirmed yet.  He only played the fool; he wasn't actually stupid.  Green!Beast was Rock Lee, a student one year older than him.  EyesseeALL and DestinyKnows were the Hyuuga cousins.  Crim was freakin Uchiha Sasuke!  Biggest jock of the grade.  RedRunsFree was mostly likely Sasuke's brother Uchiha Itachi.  He'd met idratherbeatthebeach (Sabaku Gaara) in person before he and his siblings joined _Kyuubi_.  That gave him knowledge of puppetmaster100 (Kankuro) and Tornado369 (Temari).  PetalPower was Yamanaka Ino, the popular girl at their school.  The high school that had a rivalry with his had lazy4win (Nara Shikamaru), Chipin_yum (Akimichi Chouji), Dog_on_Top (Inuzuka Kiba), slash-and-dead (Tenten, whose last name he hadn't figured out), and BlackonBlack (Aburame Shino).  He didn't know the dynamic with the other school, but Shika had told him there wouldn't be much issues between them.

So, Naruto knew who his closest friends were.  They all may not have figured out who flamekitsune was (and Crim would probably feel terrible when he found out the kid he teased for years was his partner-in-crime), but they were all his precious people.  He also had figured out what would most likely happen if everyone figured _everything_ out.  He and Laze had texted about it after Laze figured out _Kit_ knew who everyone was.  They had already figured out the "trouble spots" of the clan.

And one of those was Pet and Life meeting in real life.  Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were as different as fire and water.  Sometimes he wondered how such a nice person like Pet was such a bitch offline.  Though, a lot of them probably hid who they really were.  Life did.  She just didn't pretend to be something the complete opposite.

Fuck, how was this his life?

"Pet?" he asked into the phone after it seemed to have stopped moving.

"Uh, Kit?" he heard Yamanaka Ino respond.

"Look I need you to help Sakura down to the nurse. I'll meet you guys there," he stated, his "commander" voice still active.  It was the same voice he used in the _really_ difficult missions he led.

"You're here too?"

"Yes. I already know who you are. Sakura knows who I am. Get her to the nurse. Now."

"Right! Uh, we'll meet you down there."

Naruto nodded, though she couldn't see, and closed his phone.  Then from his position up in a tree, he looked around for Uchiha Sasuke.  They had a deal after all.  Crim, Life, and Kit would all meet each other at the same time.  He, Naruto, couldn't go help Sakura without his best friend.  Luckily, Crim and Kit had a code in the event something like this happened.  They both knew about Life's panic attacks after all.

There, not far from the doors.  Naruto jumped down and sprinted to his friend.  Because they were his friends whether online or off.

"Yo, Bastard! We gotta get lost in the thing called Life," he stated when he was within hearing of the group, coming to a stop outside the grouping.  He stayed bouncing on his feet.  If Sasuke didn't believe him, or he was somehow wrong, Naruto would be able to bolt.

Most of the guys started laughing, most calling him the bastard.  Uchiha Sasuke though, he stared at Naruto with shock.  Yeah.  Laze was right about that one.

"Ya comin' or what?" he growled out.  They needed to get to the nurse's station.

The black haired boy seemed to snap out of it then.  "What happened?" he asked while getting his things.

"Life happened," Naruto explained.  It was their code for one of her panic attacks.  Sometimes Kit and Beach weren't online when they happened.  And Crim could only help keep Sakura's panic attacks back for a short time.

"Shit. Where we going?"  Naruto was pretty pleased at the shocked silence of Crim's real life friends.

"Nurse."

"How?"

"Petal," Naruto growled as they _finally_ got moving.

"Pet? You know who she is too?"

"Pretty sure I know who everyone is," Naruto grinned.

The two boys were as in sync in reality as in _Elemental Nations_.  One of the reasons _Kyuubi_ was so great, he had people who just _got him_.

"Everyone?" Sasuke held the door open as he had been a step in front.

"Pretty much. Me and Laze figured most everybody out between the two of us. Just in case, ya know?"

"Hn."

Finally!  Naruto went in first, finding Yamanaka Ino hovering over Haruno Sakura.  Sasuke paused in the door, but he didn't stay there.  Naruto moved Ino out of the way and Sasuke lifted Sakura enough for him to get behind her.  Naruto wrapped his arms around his friend and held her close, making sure to keep his breathing even.

"Kit," she sighed into him.

"Mhmm. And Crim. Don't forget him," he whispered softly.

Sakura reached out blindly with her hand, eyes still closed.  Sasuke smiled softly (which was really weird by the way) and grabbed her hand, holding hers in both of his.  Ino shuffled beside the trio.

"Hi Crim," Sakura whispered.  "Think I should open my eyes, Naru?"

Naruto thought about it.  He wasn't sure if she had figured out who Crim was.  However, she was offering to have _that_ panic attack with them here.  Eventually he looked to Sasuke to see what he thought.

"I haven't exactly been the best person, Life," Sasuke bit out.

That caused Sakura to open one eye.  "Knew it," she smiled.  "You and Crim both 'hn' the same way."

Naruto chuckled.  It was true.  That's how he figured it out himself.  Sasuke's eyes were wide again, but he was still smiling so Naruto wasn't worried.

"Hn."

Sakura burst in giggles at that.  Naruto laughed harder.  Sasuke smirked.

"Did you know about Pet and Yamanaka-san?" Sakura asked.

Naruto and Sasuke noticed Ino flinch at the way of address.  Naruto hummed in agreement.  He did know.  He would also have to tell Shika so they could set up a "clan meeting" later that week.

"I can't," the pink haired girl broke off in sobs.  Naruto just held her closer.  She had once explained that she felt like she would fly apart in pieces when panicking.  "How? How are they the same?"

"I'm Crim," Sasuke stated.  "I haven't been real nice to Kit in the real world, but we're partners online. You two are just like us."

"I'm sorry!" Ino burst out.

Sakura pinned the popular girl with mint green eyes.  Then, she smiled.  Sakura reached out to her online friend with her free hand.  Which Ino gladly took hold of, dropping to her knees beside the bed.

His family would be fine.

* * *

When lunch ended, they had already made plans to meet up after school let out.  They knew not everyone would be able to make it, but it was worth a shot.  Naruto said he'd cover the bulk of the clan and texted Shika and Gaara about the meet up while on his way to class.  Before getting to his own classroom, he stopped by Lee's.

"Yo, Beast!" he called into the room.

Quite a few looked up at the underclassman.  Lee spotted him and "yosh"ed before jumping over desks to get to the blond.  Naruto had made the point of letting Lee know who he was about a week ago.  He, Crim and Life were planning a meet up in two weeks.  Plans change though.

"My most youthful friend! How are you this glorious day?" Lee asked.

"I'm okay. Look we're trying to get everyone together after school. Leaf Me Alone cafe. Think you'll make it?"

Leaf Me Alone was the same cafe he had met Gaara at.  The main area was a regular cafe with wfi, though they had half a room near the back full of computers for those students who didn't have one of their own.  It was the closest cafe to his place.  Though Gaara had found it because he wanted away from his father.  There were a few "big party rooms" that the group could get.

"I shall endeavor to meet with the group. Shall I tell Dest and Slash?" Lee asked, in what he considered a low voice.

"If you could," Naruto nodded.  "I've already told Life, Crim, Pet, Laze and Beach. Beach'll tell his sibs. Laze _should_ be able to get Chip, TD, and BnB."

"And Red?"

"Crim said he'd get ahold of him."

"Shall those of us here meet before departing?" Lee asked.

Naruto laughed.  "Crim, Life, Pet and I'll be going together. You can come with. If you get anyone else just text me."

"Yosh!"  And Lee was back to his seat.

Naruto grinned.  His friends were all going to meet.  In person!  While probably not going to go as smoothly as he wished, they were all going to meet.

* * *

Shika: _do u knw how bad thisll b?_

Naru: _Pet and Life were the ones we worried about_

Shika: _So?_

Naru: _They met_

Naru: _Today_

Naru: _At lunch_

Shika: _Shit, hows life?_

Naru: _Clingy but ok. She hasn't let go of Crim yet_

Shika: _L_ _ol b_ _et his fans <3 tht_

Shika: _Choull b there_

Naru: _TD and BnB? Lee's gonna text Slash and Dest_

...

...

...

Shika: _Td no bnb yes  
_

Naru: _Beach and Pup will be there. Tor has a class._

Shika: _Im pretty sure she h8s me_

Naru: _Just your voice xD_

Shika: _Stfu_

* * *

"Are we going or what, idiot?" Sasuke grumped.

"We're waiting on GB, Eyes, and Dest," Naruto stated.  Lee had been able to come through.  Apparently he and Neji had already met.

"Shit, am I gonna have to apologize some more?"

"Probably, ya bastard."

"Would you two shut up?" Sakura snapped.

When Sasuke looked like he would snark back at her, she pulled on his hand (apparently she hadn't let go of him).  Naruto would've laughed, but she had grabbed his hand when he showed up.  Ino laughed at them.  Though it was probably more to do with how they were "wiped", not that _he_ minded.  Sakura was just reassuring herself that she had friends.  Sasuke didn't seem too put out either.

Ino started in on how some of Sasuke's fanclub had flipped when the three of them went to class.  Sasuke had sat next to Sakura's spot, still holding her hand (luckily she was a lefty and he a righty).  Ino had taken the spot behind Sakura, since she sat by the window.  Quite a few of Ino's friends had tried to be mean.  Sasuke and Ino shut them up though.  Apparently their last few sensei of the day hadn't had a problem with Sakura and Sasuke holding hands.  Naruto suspected they were just happy she was interacting with her peers.

"My friends!"  Lee had made it.  Both Hyuugas followed the hyper drama geek.  "It is most wondrous to meet thee in the flesh! Though we shall have to wait another day to meet Slash as she had already made plans for this day. She wished me to express her sorrow once all were present!"

"Oh my god," Ino gasped.  "Hinata, I'm so sorry!"

Before the other girl could respond, Ino had pulled the younger Hyuuga into a hug.  Hinata blushed but returned the hug.

"It's alright, Yamanaka-san. You didn't know," the shy girl told her.

"No," Ino snapped.  "No Yamanaka-this or Yamanaka-that. I know I say I hate my nickname, but it's either Ino or Pet. One of those. Please?"

"You got it," Naruto grinned before turning his voice into something "sultry" sounding, "Pet."

Ino turned and glared.  "Girls can call me Pet or Ino. Guys can only call me Ino."

"Okay," Sakura piped up, before copying Naruto, "Pet."

"Fuck all of you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but Lee's YOUTH kinda turned into Shakespeare. Well, he is dramatic enough.
> 
> Leaf Me Alone cafe meeting next! Maybe


	3. PetalPower

If you asked her, Ino would never be able to explain why she started to play _Elemental Nations_.  She couldn't even remember why she had _bought_ the game.  It hadn't been hard to learn how to play.  It wasn't even difficult to decide on her character.  What had been difficult was finding people to play with.

Her natural friendliness disappeared when she went online.  Suddenly she didn't know what to say or do.  Finding the rest of who would become the founding members of _Kyuubi_ was a complete accident on her part.  She had been on a mission, and failing, when RedRunsFree had taken out the enemy shinobi.

Looking back, she had been really rude to him for saving her ass.  Surprisingly he had just let her rant at him.  Eventually she had run out of steam.  And he asked her to help _him_ with finishing the mission.  She had been so shocked she had just agreed.

Red had been her in with the others.  She had met lazy4win and EyesseeALL next on a four man mission.  Next she had met Green!Beast while going on missions with Eyes.  She had met the Terrific Trio next.  TreeofLife, CrimsonLies, and flamekitsune were probably the most strange combination she had ever seen.  She wasn't sure how they worked, but they did.  Last to join them was Dog_on_Top, who had joined via Eyes.

When the clan option came, it didn't seem to take much for them to agree to do it.  They almost had twice the amount needed to start a clan and seemed to keep finding more people.  Eyes had mentioned a friend who played, as did Laze.  Somehow they got to sixteen clan members.  And a really loud chatroom.

Ino, who was actually really into sociology, was amazed at the group hierarchy.  The loud mouth Kit was the main leader.  Next in command was Crim and Life.  Life was more of a support leader keeping track of health and supplies, and giving out those types of orders; she was almost OCD about their health, even in reality.  The main strategist of the group was Laze, though he would only speak up when either Kit or Crim yelled at him.

Of the five females who played, Life was the "alpha female" with Eyes and Slash switching as "beta" when needed.  In the males it was Kit as alpha with Crim as beta.  There were even smaller groups within the clan each with their own leaders.  Putting _those team leaders_ you ended up with Kit, Laze, DestinyKnows, idratherbeatthebeach, and Eyes.

It was so strange to watch.

Even stranger when she found out who they all were outside the game.

And oh how that strange was it when the two worlds collided.

Ino was really worried now that real names were being used.  While sociology was her domain, there were going to be two different versions of the same thing and she wasn't sure how it would end.

Her worry was probably very obvious to her friends, as she didn't move far from Hyuuga Hinata who was also EyesseeALL.  Though it didn't appear that she was alone in her worry.  Haruno Sakura, who was TreeofLife, had grabbed onto Uchiha Sasuke (CrimsonLies !!) and Uzumaki Naruto (flamekitsune !!!) as soon as the pink haired girl could.  Hinata didn't seem too worried, but from what Ino could recall of the girl she usually had a serene expression so that wasn't much help.

Rock Lee, or Green!Beast, was as loud in person as online.  And Hyuuga Neji (DestinyKnows) was as stoic as she figured.  Though Neji did stay close to Hinata, almost like an overprotective brother.  Though they were cousins so it wasn't too shocking.  Kit and Crim were a huge surprise at first.  But once she thought about it, Ino could see the similarities in personality, though honestly psychology wasn't her strong suit.

* * *

"Don't fret so much, Ino-chan," Hinata spoke up.  When the blonde turned to the other girl, she continued.  "Sasuke-kun has a similar problem with Naruto-kun. No one can blame you for your previous actions. Neji-nii wasn't the nicest to Lee-kun before."

"Yosh!" Lee yelled.  "Neji-san spent much time ignoring my existence! Now, though, I know him as my rival and friend in both realms we exist in!"

"I think I just see so many possible issues that it makes me nervous," Ino admitted.

"I believe the most difficult obstacle will be others understanding our sudden friendships," Hinata mused.  "I don't know how many of us are open about playing _Elemental Nations_."

"Yeah," Ino agreed.  "I think you guys are the only ones who know I do."

"Mhmm. My little sister knows Neji-nii and I play. We've yet to tell Father, though I'm not sure he would care."

"I'm never telling my parents," Sasuke butt in.

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"Second son. I've never been as 'great' as Itachi so it would just be another thing they yell at me for," the boy shrugged.

"But," Naruto cut it, "Itachi plays too."

"What?" Ino's mouth moved without permission.

"Red is Itachi," Sakura answered.  "Myfamily knows I play. My cousin is the one who bought the game for me."

"Best cousin ever?" Naruto teased.  Sakura laughed and leaned her head on the blond's shoulder.

Ino decided to take some time to try to come to terms with the new information.  Not only was Uchiha Sasuke an original member of _Kyuubi_ , so was his older brother Uchiha Itachi, heir to the Uchiha Corp.  Who just so happened to be the member of _Kyuubi_ Ino was _crushing_ on.  In the words of TD, fuck a duck.

"Fuck me," she whispered aloud.

Hinata, who was closest to her, burst into laughter.  It wasn't shocking.  The rest of the girls of _Kyuubi_ knew about her crush on Red (Uchiha Itachi !!!!!).  The kind girl just linked their arms and continued walking.

"How?" Ino hissed to Hinata.

"Hmm?"

"How are you not freaking out?"

"Neji-nii and I had figured out the original _Kyuubi_ members back before the clan feature came out," Hinata explained.

"Wait, so you knew I was Pet?"

"Mhmm. And I never held it against you. I'm actually rather jealous of your acting skills," Hinata continued.  "I doubt I would've been able to play the part as well as you have."

"Yosh! Ino-chan you are quite the actress! I hope someday to preform beside you!"

"I look forward to it, Lee," Ino grinned.

* * *

The cafe was loud.  Ino, who had never been to Leaf Me Alone, was stunned at the amount of people in the building.  While she floundered to regain her footing, Naruto seemed to be in his element.

"Hey Iruka-san!" the blond called out to one of the waiters, waving with his unoccupied hand.

"Naruto-kun! Good to see you. How've you been?" a brown haired man asked.  Ino wondered at the scar across his nose, but kept her mouth shut.  She did _not_ know enough to make a judgement.

"Great! Did Gaara and Kankuro come in?"

"Yeah, they're back in three," Iruka responded, nodding towards the back.

"Thanks! Has another group come in yet? Three guys?"

"Not yet. Anyone we know?"

"Shika."

"I'll let him know where you are."

"Thanks!"

With that Naruto led their group towards some back rooms.  At the door with the bright green number three painted on it, he opened the door and gestured for them to go in.  Since Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were linked, it made sense that he wouldn't go it first.  Lee just bounced into the room.  Hinata, who hadn't let Ino's arm go, guided the two of them inside with Neji behind them.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted after the door closed.

"Naruto," a red haired teen their age nodded.

The dark hair guy next to him grinned and nodded to the booth section of the table.  Hinata and Ino took two chairs near the redhead while the Terrible Trio got in the booth, Sasuke first.

"I'm Kankuro," the dark haired guy stated.  "Otherwise known as Pup. And beside me is my little brother Gaara, or Beach."

"It's nice to meet you," Hinata smiled.  "I'm Hyuuga Hinata, Eyes. This is Ino-chan, or Pet. My cousin Hyuuga Neji, Dest, and Rock Lee, GB. I'm quite sure you know Naruto."

"We do," Gaara nodded.  "I believe you two are CrimsonLies and TreeofLife."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Speaking of! Did you tell Itachi we were meeting here?" Naruto piped in.

Sasuke nodded.  "He said he'd try to make it. Father had wanted a word with him."

"Sucks to be him."

"Hn."

"Well this looks cozy," a voice drawled from the door.

"Hey, Shika! Chouji! Shino!" Naruto greeted the new comers.  "Come on in. Grab a seat."

"Laze," the dark haired boy with a ponytail stated as he slumped down in a chair.

"Chip," the thick blond boy grinned.  "And that's BnB," he motioned to the other dark haired boy.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino," Laze stated.

Then he let his head fall forward onto the table.  And seemed... Yes, he was taking a nap.  He really was lazy.  In retaliation, Ino pulled his hair tie out.  All she got a was grunt in response.

"Life," Sakura piped up before Ino could continue to provoke the lazy teen.  "Beside me are Kit and Crim, respectively. Blondie is Pet. Then you have Eyes, with Dest behind her. GB, Beach, and Pup."  The pink haired girl made sure to point to each person as she introduced them.  "Or, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Ino-chan, Hinata-chan, Neji-san, Lee-kun, Gaara-san, and Kankuro-san."

Ino grinned.  "Speaking of," she leaned her head back to look at Neji, "would you stop hovering? We're fine, Neji-san."

Before the pretty brown haired boy could open his mouth, Hinata swatted him in the stomach.  "Sit down, Neji-nii."

"Of course, Hinata-sama," he deadpanned.

The crowd in the room burst into laughter.  Maybe Hinata was right.  She shouldn't worry so much.  Most of them had been friend for over a year.  They could survive the clashing of worlds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have _no_ idea where Itachi/Ino came from. It just happened.


	4. lazy4win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say Shikamaru is hard to write. So happy I'm getting his chapter out of the way early on. Damn genii.

_Elemental Nations_ started out as one of Shikamaru's many attempts to keep himself interested in the world around him.  It had tactics, quests, and was brand new when he joined.  He actually enjoyed watching the mods and admins turn the game into something that _kept_ him interested.  It probably helped that he was sort of friends with Sarutobi Asuma, one of the original admin.

Asuma would often ask him what he thought about this or that.  Though Shikamaru could be honest enough to know most of his opinions didn't come into play until he started playing with a group.  Which he didn't do until he bumped into EyesseeALL.  The two of them came across Green!Beast and RedRunsFree.  The four of them worked pretty well together, but it wasn't perfect.

Shikamaru had issues with showing his intelligence.  Hinata was too shy to take command.  Lee was so... Lee that no one really considered him a leader.  Itachi didn't _want_ to lead since he had enough responsibilities in real life.

Perfect didn't come until the Terrific Trio got involved.

Shikamaru wasn't sure why, but those three made their group work.  Even though there were issues, they worked.  Naruto had somehow _known_ Shikamaru wasn't using his knowledge and got his ass in gear.  Sakura was somehow the one everyone went to with their problems.  Sasuke was the one who would find the person who killed you and _kill them in return_.

Getting Chouji involved hadn't been that much of a leap.  Those in _Kyuubi_ already knew he was smart.  They also didn't really care.  Getting his one friend outside of the game into the clan had not been a hard decision at all.

Having everyone meet in reality was never something Shikamaru wanted to happen.  One because he _knew_ he didn't look like a genius.  Two because all of the _DRAMA_ that would happen.  He was pretty sure his normal teammate (PetalPower, Ino) would get on his ass for being lazy.  He had hoped the dynamics of the clan wouldn't change much.

So he was pleasantly surprised when all Ino did upon meeting his lazy, genius ass was pull out his hair-tie and braid his hair.  If that was all she'd do while he napped, well he could handle that.  Actually, he was pretty amazed that not one of the group got upset with him for laying his head on the table.  Maybe he should listen to Chouji more often.

At least when it was about people.  Or maybe just the clan.  Food for thought.

A little over a week since the collision and things were back to as normal as they got for _Kyuubi_.  Sure there were a few changes, but most everything stayed the same.  The things that changed stuck mostly to the real world.

* * *

Shikamaru had learned early on how to keep himself invisible while on the chat.  Usually so he wasn't bothered by anyone.  Nowadays he used the skill to listen to the girls talk on Tuesdays.  Chouji thought it was pretty weird, but Shikamaru liked listening to the five females talk about random things.  It also helped him understand the opposite gender better.

He also knew Hinata knew he listened in on those nights.

She had never ousted him, though he was pretty sure she had told Ino and Sakura about his "spying" so to speak.

This latest Girl's Night they seemed to be focused on the crushes some of them had.  Ino liked Itachi.  Hinata liked Naruto.  Mostly the other girls tried to help Hinata get enough courage to ask Naruto out.  Which apparently got set back after the Meet 'n' Greet.  They talked about make-up, because now that they had seen each other they could help with that better... Or something like that.

Shikamaru was honest enough with himself to know he listened to them chatter because it helped him keep his focus.  Usually so he could do this or that homework assignment.  Not that they were terribly difficult.  More he had to remind himself not to go on a tangent or just get bored with it.  The constant chatter from the chatroom was often helpful with that.

"Hey, I've got to get off, so I'll see you girls this weekend. Hopefully."  _Temari_

"Okay, Tor." _Ino_

"We'll catch up with you another time." _Tenten_

_Tornado369 has logged off  
_

"Hey, Laze?" _Sakura_

Wait.  What?

"Yeah?" he answered back.

"What the-" _Tenten_

"Would you mind explaining to Pet here why she shouldn't be shy about her feelings?"  _Sakura_

"Life!" _Ino_

What?  Shikamaru thought for a moment.  Ino had liked Itachi since about the time they had all met.  Itachi had made a few comments early on about how he thought Ino (who he knew as Pet then) was interesting, which caused him to interact with her.

"He thinks she's interesting," he stated.

"He does?" _Ino_

"Told you."  _Sakura_

"That-that doesn't mean anything!"  _Ino_

"He's on more when he knows Ino will be on. Prefers to go with her on missions."  It was one of his observations.  Itachi was more likely to be on when Ino was, though not as much since she started sticking with him and Chouji.

"Thanks, Laze."  _Sakura_

"Whatever."

Girls.  He didn't think he'd ever understand them completely.  Though he did understand them better since _Kyuubi_ came to be.  Something his mom had noticed and commented on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is pretty short, but I wanted to show how Shika sees the group and that they were returning to a new normal

**Author's Note:**

> The ending of this surprised me. I was just gonna have this be a one time thing... Now, I don't know.
> 
> Who's who: (Though it should be kinda easy)  
> flamekitsune (Kit) = Naruto  
> TreeofLife (Life) = Sakura  
> CrimsonLies (Crim) = Sasuke  
> PetalPower (Pet) = Ino  
> EyesseeALL (Eyes) = Hinata  
> Tornado369 (Tor) = Temari  
> Dog_on_Top (TD) = Kiba  
> BlackonBalck (BnB) = Shino  
> Chipin_yum (Chip) = Chouji  
> slash-and-dead (Slash) = Tenten  
> Green!Beast (GB) = Lee  
> DestinyKnows (Dest) = Neji  
> puppetmaster100 (Pup) = Kankuro  
> Idratherbeatthebeach (Beach) = Gaara  
> lazy4win (Laze) = Shikamaru  
> RedRunsFree (Red) = Itachi


End file.
